By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
Are we surprised?
It may have come as something of a shock to certain City Council members last week when they received a marine engineering report that our beloved Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park is slowly sinking.
The shock value would have been multiplied if the diving company had been able to provide some cost estimates for the repair job. But “surprised?” Not really.
Anyone who’s been around this salt water environment for very long know docks and other concrete structures are gonna corrode. And the waterfront park, built 50 years ago along the Beaufort River behind the Bay Street businesses, is no different.
Built basically on something of an underwater shelf – called a relieving platform by the engineers – the park is supported by 570 concrete pilings. And those pilings are eroding.
The situation, according to the report, has been made worse by the large cruise ships that have been allowed to tie up to the park seawall for the past 20 years. When the council first considered allowing the ships to tie up to the sea wall there was some concern that the boats would block the view. Now we find out they’re doing more than just blocking the view.
An incident last year with one of the ships pulling down a bollard highlighted the need for further inspection as to the infrastructure of the area.
City Manager Scott Marshall has already begun conversations with the American Cruise Lines to develop a temporary fix until a repair plan can be determined.
Maybe the ships could go down to Port Royal and use Safe Harbor’s basic dock facility to load and unload. But you can just imagine what impact that would have on downtown merchants who have come to rely on the ships and tour busses to sell their wares.
Relocation of the cruise ships will be a band aid approach but it would be a start.
And speaking of other “surprises.” Was anyone surprised to read in the Post and Courier last week that 303 Associates President Dick Stewart has announced they’re stepping back with plans for a three-story-hotel-with-a-rooftop bar on Scott and Port Royal streets and the parking garage on Craven Street.
These two projects have generated more twists and turns than a boa constrictor finishing off his prey.
Stewart says the latest business decision was prompted by the increase in construction costs due to the legal delays in the project development, a point he has already raised in a lawsuit against Graham Trask, a lawsuit that is buried in the bowels of the judicial system.
Whether you consider these developments “good” or “bad,” one thing we can know for sure is that Waterfront Park repair is gonna mean big bucks. It will be interesting to see the role Safe Harbor Marinas, LLC, which leases the Downtown Marina from the city and oversees the cruise ship activities, plays on behalf of the city.
Safe Harbor has already presented an expansion plan for the marina several months ago to City Council. And while the Council said they didn’t like the expansion, it will be interesting to see how the future of the seawall dockage will impact those negotiations.
Council resorts to secrecy for HRB appointments
BEAUFORT – Somewhat surprising was action last week by the Beaufort City Council which opted to use a “secret ballot” vote on two appointments to the city’s Historic Review Board.
Membership on the HRB has been a sticky issue for the politicians for the past several years but a “secret ballot”?
The council made appointments to five other boards and commissions at last week’s meeting, without the benefit of a “secret ballot,” aka where the elected officials wrote on a piece of paper their top two choices for the two seats and the results were read aloud by the clerk, without any indication on who voted how.
There’s been some question that the voting process was even legal, under state open meeting laws, but unless someone challenges the vote, it stands.
It was only because Mayor Phil Cromer, who agreed to use the secret ballot in the first place, spoke up and said he didn’t support one of the top choices – HRB Chairman Mike Sutton, who had asked to be reappointed – because, in Cromer’s opinion, he did not meet the criteria for a historic preservationist.
Sutton was reappointed along with a retired architect who was selected by Council over two former Beaufort Historical Foundation associates who had experience on the board in the past.
Although we do use “secret ballots” in elections, it’s hard to remember when a local elected body has resorted to this procedure in conducting the city’s business. Especially when the politicians spend so much time talking about “transparency.”
Proposed plastic straw ban not dead yet
BEAUFORT – Proposed changes to the county’s plastic bag ban to include plastic straws and Styrofoam cups might still be in the future.
Keep Beaufort Beautiful (KBB), the county appointed citizens group which brought up the suggestion last month, is working with the S.C. Coastal Conservation League (CCL) to develop support for the changes. Even if the Beaufort County Council shut down the idea earlier this month because most of the elected officials had questions about how it would work.
The city of Charleston included a ban on all plastic bags, plastic straws and polystyrene/foam containers in 2018. The municipalities of James Island, Mt. Pleasant and Folly Beach (all in Charleston County) have followed suit with Folly Beach adding balloons to their ban.
The KBB and CCL hope to hold public meetings on the proposal and meet with municipal leaders in the coming summer months.
In the meantime, they’re hoping concerned citizens will jump on the proverbial bandwagon.
Harris Teeter opens Tuesday
LADY’S ISLAND – In case you didn’t know, the new Harris Teeter at one of northern Beaufort County’s busiest corners – the intersection of Sea Island Parkway and Sam’s Point Road — will open for business at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25.
The landscaping to replace the dozens of trees that were killed for the new commercial center has been done and hopefully will continue to grow through the hot, dry summer months.
Yes indeed, grocery shoppers now have the trifecta of Harris Teeter, Food Lion and Publix to choose from, all within a one-mile radius.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. Her goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.
